Thoughts on Photography, Six Months Later

Hi Hive! You don't mind if I do drive-bys every now and again, right? Promise I'll drop by when I think I've got something good for ya. Today I'm thinking about wedding photography... six months after the wedding.

Photography quickly rose to the top of my list of important things when we began planning. I knew I wanted something special, but I didn't know exactly what. Unless you are used to working with photographers on a pretty regular basis, most of us just know what we like when we see it. When I stumbled upon Luke's work, I just knew he was the one. It was sort of like falling in love at first sight.

Then you find the price for your dream. And it's usually higher than you hoped for.

To fit the constraints of budget, the only way to make my make my 2-shooter, 8-hour fantasy happen was to cut out the album option. My high-quality images would land in my lap on 2 discs, about 8GB worth of our gorgeous day.  Luke also included web-ready images, which were much smaller and included his watermark. This made recaping our wedding pretty easy breezy, but now it's all up to me to figure out how to present my photos outside of the internet.

Uploading the high-res images to photobook sites became frustrating when I learned that most hosts don't allow images over 10 MB-- almost all of my images are over 20 MB. That's huge. Luckily I was able to resize in Adobe Fireworks, but silly me then resized almost 100 images a little too small. *facepalm* So frustrating!

I tried uploading my resized photos to Picasa to use them inside of Blurb, but then Picasa-- without rhyme or reason-- continued to act up and reject my photos, causing me to almost throw my computer across the room. So I did what any good Apple user does-- I turned to iPhoto to make my album.

(screen captures by me, photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

Omigod, ya'll, it was so easy! There was no uploading and crossing my fingers it would work. I just dragged and dropped and changed layouts at will and iPhoto let me know if the photo size was too small to print well. The full-page photos are the only ones I used the super high-res images for. The hardest part was choosing which photos to include and trying to restrain myself from hitting the "new page" button too many times. I will report back on the quality when I see the finished product.

Photography editing is no walk in the park, even if you do have appropriate software. It takes a lot of patience and time and if you are short on both, think about adding the album options to your photography package. While at the time you think you will be able to work that out yourself, sometimes it's best left to the professionals!

Have you made an Apple photobook? How did it turn out for you?

A Napa Fairytale: Impromptu Motorcycle Photoshoot

I went looking for my groom when the DOC told me it was time for the tosses. I didn't see him on the dance floor or in the courtyard so I made my way to the fountain, and lo and behold, the jokers were all gathered around the bike.

Naturally, I thought it would be a hot moment if I climbed up there with him. Those clever photographers always know where to be!

On their best behaviors!

We started out pretty tame, but then got a little saucy...

It was so funny! Amy was giving me directions and the groomsmen were all hooting and hollering... it was a moment!

We had one sweet, tender moment (which Luke captured beautifully), and we headed back into the barrel room with our wedding party in tow, ready to cause some ruckus on the dance floor!

I highly recommend a motorcycle at your wedding if you can swing it!

A Napa Fairytale: Bride & Groom Photo Shoot

After getting over the rush of our first look at each other, we settled down just a bit and Luke took a turn at directing a quick photoshoot. During our pre-wedding correspondence, I told Luke we were open to fun and unique photos. Of course there is a time and place for super-formal looking shots, but I like relaxed ones too and wanted to make sure to get a few silly ones.

Posing for your wedding photos can be hard. I was giddy and excited and didn't know whether we should be "doing something" or just acting how we felt and letting Luke use his eye to pick up the shots. He was great at placing us in good spots and then letting us act however we felt.

We have a history of these fun "mini-me" shots and naturally needed to have some on our wedding day.

 The above left shot is one of my favorites. Definitely a framer.

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

As we wrapped up our personal photo shoot, the natives out front were getting restless. At least they're good at entertaining themselves! We rounded up the families and everyone joined us at the back of the winery for an easy peasy formal shoot.

Did you have fun with your wedding photos? A "day after" shoot is a good idea too if you don't have time on your wedding day for informal shots.

A Napa Fairytale: Introduction

Greetings, Hive! I'm back and I'm armed with winery wedding goodness for you, straight from the heart of Napa Valley. Our 10/10/10 wedding went off beautifully and I'm so excited to tell you our story!

Mr. Barrettes and I tied the knot at V. Sattui Winery, surrounded by 120 of our nearest and dearest. Crush season in Napa is easily one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit wine country and the energy of the region was simply buzzing. Plump grapes still hung on some vines and others were freshly harvested. The smell of crush tickled your nose-- it was simply magical.

photos by Luke Snyder Studio

Our rehearsal and dinner were on October 9th, with most of our guests arriving that morning. We drove down from Mr. Barrettes' mom's house in Ukiah (where we had spent a week preparing) on the 8th to ease ourselves into the weekend with a few close friends.  I look forward to sharing our wedding adventure with you-- grab a glass of your favorite vino as I do the same. The story is always better with wine!

Eating My Words About That Facebook Thing.

Remember when I posted this a million years ago?

Guess what? I'm LOVING the photos our guests are sharing on facebook. Everyone's perspective of the weekend is different than mine and I'm so happy to see that they captured moments so beautifully. Silly Barrettes-- of course you'd love seeing everyone's photos. Guests posting their photos on facebook= good idea! Trust me, 2 days after its over you're going to love seeing photos go up.

Guess what else? *blink* My wedding is over. Thats it. Its crazy! Suddenly I'm sitting on my couch in Guam, typing away while my husband and canine are back to their respective routines. And I just finished washing dishes-- I'm not even wearing my ring!

So as before, I will write. I don't think the hard recaps will come until I'm done with the professional photo process, but I will try to share as much of the other details as I can!

I'm on the hunt for guest's photos. I signed up for a picasa web album, but I don't think guests can upload to it unless I invite them by email. Facebook, you win.

(all facebook photos from guests. Kansas, Johnna, and Gigi.)

Pro Pics Teasers

I can't find words yet, so I'll just leave you with these teasers our photographer posted. It was my fairytale wedding-- a real dream come true! So excited to share my story with you once I unwind!!!

xo MRS. Barrettes

...and just a cute iphone hipstaprint snap of our first dance:

Looking forward to sharing more!

Facebook Faux Pas?

(source)

I'm just as guilty as the next person when in comes to Facebook stalking---err-- "research". I have certainly seen wedding photos of Facebook friends mere minutes after they stepped into their venue. Guests are excited and iPhones and Blackberries come out to play and before you know it, your months of planning and preening are reduced to a photo on someone's "Mobile Uploads".

Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but with all the dough we are dishing out for professional photos, I'm not sure if I want Facebook to be the first platform to present our wedding day on. Is it wrong for me to ask our guests not to post photos of us on their Facebook? It is a vacation for many of them, and I understand  it is their own experience and obviously I'm not opposed to sharing photos of themselves or the winery or any of the pre or post-events. I'm certainly not going to ask my friends not to post their own photos, but can I ask them not to post photos of the Bride and Groom?

I want to be able to pick and choose which photos I want to share with the world. Is that too much to ask? In the era of insta-share, is it okay for me to want to keep our wedding day a little close to the chest?  I am totally one of those people who 'un-tags' themselves in bad photos!!! I sort of feel weird placing a Facebook ban on wedding photos. I have seen ideas where the couple asks friends to upload their photos to online albums, so I know that is an option. Help me hive! Am I being too much of a brat? What is the best way to go about this situation?

Booked: Photographer!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a Photographer! I'm very happy to report that Luke Snyder and one of his associates, of Luke Snyder Studio will be shooting our big day! Luke's photos, (coincidentally from a V. Sattui wedding) were just featured on the top wedding blog, Style Me Pretty. If that's not a good sign, I don't know what is!

I'm thrilled to have accomplished this task and I look forward to fawning over our super cool wedding photos! Luke seems keen on helping me re-create the Annie Leibowitz shots that I liked so much, as well as the SOTA shots that caught my eye.

(Wouldn't this be awesome for a First Look?)

Ryan has already expressed his reluctance to spend the whole evening taking pictures, which on any other night would be very fun for me. Who doesn't love a good photo shoot!? So we're toying with the idea of doing a "Day After" shoot, which would be a more relaxed way to get the killer photos I'm after.

I found Luke solely online and really liked his style immediately. Once I found him I knew there was no one else I needed to see! With his experience shooting at our venue and his willingness to try fun things, he quickly shot to the top of my 'must have' list.  Can't wait to see how he captures our big day!

(all images via Luke Snyder Studio)

Did you have a hard time finding your photographer online? What made you want to work with him/her?